Poudre football blasts Monarch in homecoming game for Impalas' fourth straight win
Jones Thomas made his final homecoming game at Poudre High School one to remember Friday night, scoring three touchdowns before halftime to lead the Impalas to a 40-0 win over Monarch at French Field.
As a receiver, Thomas caught touchdown passes of 1 and 45 yards from quarterback Quentin Harms.
And from his safety position on defense, he intercepted a pass and returned it 80 yards for the first of two pick-sixes for the Impalas (4-1).
Luke Olson had the other pick-six for Poudre, intercepting a pass midway through the second quarter and returning it 45 yards for a touchdown.
“I think it’s the first homecoming game Poudre’s won in a while," said Thomas, a senior. "It’s cool to be a part of that.”
Here are some takeaways from one of Poudre’s most-lopsided victories in recent memory:
Poudre’s four wins already top past three seasons
Poudre dropped its season opener 40-8 at Rock Canyon but hasn’t lost since, rolling to wins over Castle View, Prairie View, Brighton and now Monarch.
With four wins, the Impalas have already assured themselves of their best season since at least 2018, regardless of how they fare in league play, which begins next week against crosstown rival Rocky Mountain in the first game of a doubleheader Friday at Colorado State’s Canvas Stadium.
“We’ve got a good group of guys,” Thomas said. “We’ve got a lot of talent on offense and defense. I think we’ll continue to win. I think we’re playoff contenders, for sure, once we start putting things together.”
Running backs share the work
Senior running backs Jordan Niesent and Saje Camirand continued to carry a heavy load on offense, running for about 100 yards and one touchdown apiece while splitting carries. Official statistics were not immediately available.
Camirand’s 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter gave the Impalas a 33-0 lead, and Niesent’s 10-yard run into the end zone with 6:40 left made it 40-0, invoking Colorado’s mercy rule of a running clock for the rest of the game whenever one team takes a lead of 40 points or more.
“We’re trying to get back to establish the mentality of running the football,” Tonkin said. “I think that gives us the best chance to win. Just the mentality of being able to run the football; that’s what we’re trying to create and build.
“Those are two great backs that we have back there that are able to find the holes and taking advantage of what the offensive line gives them.”
Poudre defense pitches a shutout
Poudre’s defense didn't just provide points with two pick-sixes. The Impalas were stout throughout the game, stuffing Monarch’s running backs at the line of scrimmage before they could ever get their feet under them and pressuring quarterback Asher Ewing every time he tried to throw.
Poudre’s defensive front, led by Colton Mills Younger, Jeremiah Sullivan and Cassius Garcia, sacked Asher a half-dozen or so times and rarely gave him time to look for an open receiver.
“They did a great job of getting off the ball; that’s something we’ve really stressed the last couple weeks,” Tonkin said. “Get off the ball and playing vertical and really using their hands well. They did a really good job.”
Not that there were many to find, given the tight pass coverage of the secondary, the strength of Poudre’s defense, Tonkin said.
“We have four guys out there that can all cover, they can all run,” Tonkin said. “We know they have a lot of ability; that’s a strength. So, I kind of like it when teams try to throw on us.”
Everyone gets in on the act
Poudre led 27-0 at halftime and 33-0 by the middle of the third quarter, allowing Tonkin to substitute freely for the remainder of the game. Thomas, Harms and a handful of other starters spent much of the second half, watching from the sidelines while their backups finished off the Coyotes (2-3).
"It makes the game fun when everyone’s scoring, everyone’s getting the ball, the backups are in and ,everyone's having a good time," Harms said. "We’ve been talking about it the past couple weeks, just like Poudre in the past doesn’t describe who we are. We're a lot better team this year, and we can be way better than we already are. We're just scratching the surface."
Fossil Ridge, Rocky Mountain pick up road wins
Fossil Ridge and Rocky Mountain both picked up big wins on the road Friday night.
Fossil Ridge, playing its second straight game with former running back Colton Pawlak at quarterback in place of the injured Tyler Kubat, rolled to a 50-14 win over Arvada West at North Area Athletic Complex.
It was the second consecutive lopsided road win for the SaberCats (4-1), who beat host Windsor 33-0 a week earlier.
One of Fossil Ridge’s touchdowns came from Tanner Isom on a pick-six.
Rocky Mountain spoiled Horizon’s homecoming with a 31-7 win over the Hawks to improve to 3-2 heading into the start of league play next week against Poudre at Canvas Stadium.
Fort Collins, Windsor take lopsided losses
Columbine, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, raced out to a 28-0 halftime lead and blasted Fort Collins 48-7 at PSD Stadium in Timnath.
The loss was the fourth straight for Fort Collins (1-4), which hasn’t won since its season opener at Denver East.
Windsor also fell in decisive fashion with a 42-14 road loss at Erie. The Wizards are now 2-3 entering league play.
Kelly Lyell reports on CSU, high school and other local sports and topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, follow him on Twitter @KellyLyell and find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Poudre Impalas football blasts Monarch for fourth straight win
